Tropico 5 places you in control of your very own island, as you assume the role of dictator. The latest release in the Tropico series (like its predecessors) allows the player to rule any way they wish – as a dictator, communist or loving president. There’s no discrimination in Tropico; you can be as crooked as the day is long (the choice is entirely up to you).

The game starts out rather slow in the beginning, but the slow-pace can be used to the player’s benefit to learn the game mechanics. The biggest dilemma you will face is figuring out how to balance and budget your money. The bigger your city becomes (and the more buildings you construct), the more money you end up spending. Plus, a large city attracts more citizens to manage.

Being a dictator isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It can be difficult to come up with the next big ‘scheme’. Corruption and murder go hand-in-hand, but rigging elections and stuffing ballot boxes is considered mere child’s play compared to the corruption you can actually cause. Some decisions are cut and dry, while others require you to rule with an iron fist. How you handle these situations is entirely up to you. Tropico 5 is the type of game that requires your complete, undivided attention, as you focus on important issues and political scenarios.

The single-player campaign is brilliant, as it allows you to experience everything that Tropico has to offer. The new Dynasty System is truly amazing; it allows the player to expand their family. Over the course of the game, you will form relationships with other males and females and eventually give birth to heirs.

Growing your dynasty is important to your success. But this doesn’t mean you will lose any of your previous dynasty members. You are allowed to have a total of seven different dynasty members at any given time. The bigger your dynasty becomes, the more bonuses and traits you will receive.

Aside from expanding your dynasty, you must also research new technology to advance to the next era. With new technology comes even greater responsibility, as you improve your infrastructure and stay current with the times. However, Tropico 5 does have a slight learning curve: in the beginning, you must work against the clock to establish your own independence before your term in office expires. There are plenty of ways to work around the time restriction(s) by making shady deals or bribing the right political figures.

Tropico 5 is a combination of many different genres – Strategy, Strategy RTS, Simulation and City Building. It successfully combines these genres into a cohesive, strategy RTS that happens to be the best game in the Tropico series. The gameplay is fully functional and fun to play.

Online multiplayer comes with a multitude of game modes. This also includes the offline experience, which includes an expansive campaign and the ability to play in ‘sandbox’ mode with no restrictions whatsoever.
The online experience is very similar to the single-player campaign. The only difference being is that you are playing against multiple players via the Steam Network. And since online matches include different variations, you will never have the same gameplay experience twice. This is also true for single-player as well – randomly generated maps guarantee a fresh start for each game created.

Online matches can be just as brutal as the single-player campaign, as multiple players race toward a common goal that involves beating one another. Depending on how the host configures the match, warfare can also be thrown into the mix. Not every player likes having the combat option enabled, but it does add another element to the gameplay that not too many strategy games have. Even though combat can be turned on or off during the match setup process, this does not affect the core gameplay mechanics of Tropico 5.

There are numerous ways to configure an online multiplayer match, and there are many different ways to win. For example: instead of setting up a match to be won by ‘victory points’, you can customize the settings to require the players to reach a certain amount of money or construct a specific building. By doing this, the match becomes a struggle to achieve technological advancement rather than warfare or victory points.

The real attraction to Tropico 5’s online multiplayer feature is the ability to customize the in-game map and the era you start in. This means that you don’t have to start the game in colonial times if you do not want to. The possibilities are almost endless when it comes to gaming online. Regardless of how many times you play the game online, the game never grows stale or becomes predictable.

The most impressive aspect of playing online is that it’s very similar to the single-player experience. Once you have played single-player, you can play online without any issues. Moreover, the game comes with an extensive tutorial and digital manual for gamers that need to brush up on their skills as dictator.

All the features that gamers loved from the previous games in the series are present in Tropico 5. I am positive that we will see additional content added via DLC (Downloadable Content) and even content updates in the near future. The online feature and the single-player sandbox mode are utterly addictive, and they make for a crazy, good time.

Tropico 5 is the best game in the series by far. Its single-player campaign and equally enjoyable multiplayer experience helps it stand out amongst other games in the genre. Tropico 5 includes hours of gameplay that will keep gamers busy for long periods of time. And once you take the sandbox experience into account, you are left with a game that will keep you playing until the next installment in the series is released.